The Sydney quartet are releasing this, their second EP, on the eve of a UK tour, another sign of the band’s rising star status on the international stage. Of course, they’ve been the local talk of the town for a couple of years, building a solid following via their own shows and some fine support slots.

If EP was their calling card, their first real statement of intent beyond a couple of earlier singles, then EP2 is another step forward. It solidifies their reputation as incisive songwriters and fine players. They’ve got an ear to the ground but a widescreen songwriting vision.

Opener and first single ”Stingray bursts from the gates with a spray of guitar notes, sparkling and cascading over the nimble rhythm section. It’s a great example of the rush of energy they can invest in their songs, the retention of the rough edges to the music and the economy of their songs. Pop in structure but noisy and damn catchy by nature.

‘Free To Air’ initiallydials things back to a wistful and melancholic slice of dream pop before choppy drums and their swirling jangly guitars take flight. It’s a song apparently inspired by an old neighbour of Annabel Blackman’s and his life as witnessed remotely from her bedroom. Musically the song captures that mood of both intimacy and disassociated observation. ‘Insomnia’ inhabits a similar atmospheric place, the highlight being Blackman’s vocal melody which is heavy-lidded and drowsy yet still irresistibly catchy.

‘Sad Wax’ weaves more of the same snake charmer guitar lines into the song’s DNA but it lacks the same impact and physicality of the other songs on the EP. It’s a pleasant enough track but it sounds under-formed as it repeatedly circles the same musical idea without building or elaborating on it. The final track ‘UMA’ gets things back on track with a different sonic palette. The bass comes to the fore, leading the song into grungier territory akin to Pixies with a dash of Hole. It works wonderfully, all tension and quirks courtesy of shrieks and sneered, gang vocals, capping off an impressive batch of songs from a band that just keep getting better and better.

Three shades of emotive indie guitar music were on display this evening with Body Type the most conventional of them. The quartet boast three lead vocalists and a fine line in songs that ranged from swerving slacker rock in the vein of Courtney Barnett, to the dreamier climes of bands like Warpaint and Beach House.

She’s been on the radar as a hotly-tipped new talent for a while now and on this showing it’s hard to disagree with that. From the opening notes of a short set Gabriella Cohen came across like a modern day Karen Dalton, possessing one of those voices that sounds beyond her years. She seemed at one as a singer and a guitarist, delivering sparse blues laments before being joined by violinist/guitarist/singer Kate Dillon and concocting a sound that channelled Dirty Three, Kate Bush and Neil Young in an art-pop jam.

Another band that has been receiving a ton of critical acclaim of late, Big Thief wasted no time in locking into an onstage groove with the band leaning into each other and the songs, using eye contact to ensure they were playing into the heart of their songs. The star of the show was front-person Adrianne Lenker who often came across as fragile and emotionally raw and at other times strident and commanding. That creative duality is what made her (and the band’s) performance so compelling. From a lonesome and spine-tingling solo voice to the single unadulterated scream she unleashed late in the set, she was in full control.

With only one album under their belt it got a thorough airing with the single Masterpiece, Real Love and Parallels particular highlights. Lenker gave us a solo new song, freshly written on this Australian tour and they finished with another new one, this time with the full band, that featured some astoundingly dense and overflowing vocals.

Big Thief added a wider dynamic range to their songs in the live setting, elevating the songs that make up a great debut album into a brilliant live performance.